Factors influencing the recovery of organic nitrogen from fresh human urine dosed with organic/inorganic acids and concentrated by evaporation in ambient conditions

Abstract

To feed the world without transgressing regional and planetary boundaries for nitrogen and phosphorus, one promising strategy is to return nutrients present in domestic wastewater to farmland. This study tested a novel approach for producing bio-based solid fertilisers by concentrating source-separated human urine through acidification and dehydration. Thermodynamic simulations and laboratory experiments were conducted to evaluate changes in chemistry of real fresh urine dosed and dehydrated using two different organic and inorganic acids. The results showed that an acid dose of 1.36 g H2SO4 L-1, 2.86 g H3PO4 L-1, 2.53 g C2H2O4 center dot 2H(2)O L-1 and 5.9 g C6H8O7 L-1 was sufficient to maintain pH

Keywords

Acidification; Decentralised sanitation; Fertiliser; Nutrient recycling; Source separation; Wastewater treatment

Published in

Science of the Total Environment
2023, volume: 879, article number: 163053
Publisher: ELSEVIER

SLU Authors

• Simha, Prithvi

  • Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Vasiljev, Anastasija

  • Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Vinnerås, Björn

  • Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Global goals (SDG)

SDG6 Clean water and sanitation

UKÄ Subject classification

Water Treatment

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163053

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/122061